Fall Color

The phrase fall color usually refers to leaves that color up. The gingkos go gold, and the sugar maple leaves turn the most amazing shades of yellow, peach, orange and red. But there are those late blooming plants whose flowers are richly saturated with color. Jewel like-as in the wine red and lime green of amaranthus caudatus Fat Spike, and the the golden topaz of amaranthus Hot Biscuits. These big rangy growing cultivars of grain amaranth bloom with colors I associate with the season.

.The amaranths dry incredibly well, but the color is at its most dense and brilliantly jewel-like the moment they are cut. I buy them by the bunch loads when they come into season. There is something about their velvety color and texture I find irresistable. I do use them in fall containers, especially clients who will replace their fall planting with a winter one the end of November.

Hot biscuits is just as beautiful in a vase. I remove all of the leaves and cut the thick stems on a steep slant.

Mixed with the orange rose of my dreams- “Star 2000”, the yellow and orange bicolor rose “Confetti”, and the florist’s button chrysanthemum “Yoko Ono”, the result is a spectacular discussion of color particular to fall.

The orange summer planting at the shop looks perfectly appropriate this October 1. The copper leaved banana, the orange dahlias and red violet coleus have taken on a different, more saturated look. The forecast for temperatures in the 30’s tonight does not augur well for a good look tomorrow-I thought I had better take a picture.

Clear sky orange and yellow pansies look particularly appropriate for fall. Some dark twigs, with a substantial collar of eucalyptus dyed orange completes the look. These pots will look all the more beautiful once the leaves on the trees change color.

Some fall color is as much about the quality of the light as the color. This antique white fountain with its paint rusting looks cream, gold and orange in the low in the sky, late day sun.

Have you seen the new issue of Garden’s Illustrated? It is superb. My most favorite article is about the Dutch garden Boschoeve, owned, designed and tended by Dineke Logtenberg. Her ornamental kitchen garden is full of varieties of edible plants that are beautiful in their own right. This photograph of the cabbage “Kalibos” by Elke Borowski says everything there is to say about the color of fall maturing plants.

The pumpkins and gourds are ripening. They will be cream, butter yellow, orange, peach, and black green. This color is unlike any other season. Their colors are all that much more intense, given a little late summer sun.

My trees are just beginning to turn color. The kousa dogwoods are always the first. The brilliant red berries pepper the green leaves in the process of turning red. This look is some consolation that spring is several seasons away.

Dahlais are especially beautiful in the fall. Provided they have survived the spider mites and mildew, they will bloom like crazy towards the end of the season. There colors will intrensify with the beginning of the cold. This carmine pink University series cactus dahlia has bloomed faithfully all season; it is especially good right now.

Not all fall color is bright. These plantings of red bor kale, cirrus dusty miller and blue pansies are moody, just like the rainy blustery weather we have been having the past few days. No summer planting looks like this. Color in the fall is an experience like no other.

I love the pictures of the outside of the shop, particularly the plants on the roof. I would be inspired to do gardening just by driving by! I’ve been following your blog from Maryland and love your writing style, pictures and tips. Very inspiring for this novice gardener.

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About the Author

Deborah Silver is a landscape and garden designer whose firm, Deborah Silver and Co Inc, opened its doors in 1986. She opened Detroit Garden Works, a retail store devoted to fine and unusual garden ornament and specialty plants, in 1996. In 2004, she opened the Branch studio, a subsidiary of the landscape company which designs and manufactures garden ornament in a variety of media. Though her formal education is in English literature and biology, she worked as a fine artist in watercolor and pastel from 1972-1983. A job in a nursery, to help support herself as an artist in the early 80’s evolved into a career in landscape and garden design. Her landscape design and installation projects combine a thorough knowledge of horticulture with an artist’s eye for design. Her three companies provide a wide range of products and services to the serious gardener. She has been writing this journal style blog since April of 2009.